CHILDREN’S THEATER REVIEW : Upbeat Musical ‘Orange Trees’ Has Ripened With Sense of History

In 1987, South Coast Repertory offered a flawed professional production of “Orange Trees,” a musical based on Orange County history. Now, at the Performing Arts Center, the repertory’s amateur Young Conservatory Players make the show a winner.

Artistic director Diane Doyle, who adapted Doris Baizley’s breezy musical, has kept the quick momentum and upbeat songs that Baizley co-wrote with Diane King as a tribute to Orange County’s centennial. But, surprisingly, she has darkened the proceedings just enough so that now there is a sense of those in history who pay the price for change.

We know we are being offered more than a well-scrubbed cartoon when an Indian (Charlie Gray Eagle) begins with a poem--”My children, when at first I liked the whites, I gave them fruits . . .”--reminding us that this land was home to his people first.

And, when a wealthy rancho owner arrogantly tells us that slave labor is part of her vast money-making “machine,” the moment has enough weight to sink in.

There is no heavy hand here, however; Doyle doesn’t sacrifice the fun. The 8- to 17-year-old players, aided by members of the Adult Conservatory, present lighter moments equally well: the frustration of freeway gridlock, how Dana Point was named and how Glenn Martin set a cross-water flight record in 1912. Sean R. MacArthur is a high-energy comic kick as Martin.

A horse race mixed with an Indian folk tale works less well, but for the most part the musical hums along. Adult actors Laurie Woolery and Michael Sam Roman are vivid presences. Gray Eagle has dignity but needs more forcefulness as the play’s spokesman.

The young actors handle them selves creditably, a testament to the well-rounded training they receive. Sets and costumes are simple but possess the quality signature of Dwight Richard Odle. Donna Ruzika’s light design is on the mark, and Susan Cable’s choreography has bounce.

“Orange Trees” continues through Sunday in Founders Hall, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Show times: Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday at 1 and 3:30 p.m. through Sunday. $6. (714) 957-4033.